surface-soil is twelve inche:. deep. The team to be 
used may be either oxen or horses; but if horses, it 
must be those that are accustomed to a strong, 
steady pull. If oxen, they must be powerful and 
well broken; and then a great degree of patience 
will be required of both team and driver. 
plow the first furrow one slice 
the right than the point at which you in- 
This iurrow being 
CANNING- FRUIT 
SIX BEST ANNUALS, 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— Desiring to make a 
small return for the many benefits I have derived 
from your paper, I send you my way of canning 
fruit: 
The best, cans are wide-mouthed glass bottles, and 
use no corks. Lay them in a pan of clean water, 
(warm, if you please,) set them over a kettle of hot 
water, while your fruit is heating in anicely cleaned 
brass or porcelain kettle. Allow three ounces of 
Bugar to a pound of peaches, and four ounces to a 
pound of cherries or currants. If you have a very 
sweet tooth, you may like more; taste and ascertain. 
Now remember the old couplet, 
“ A pint's a pound 
Tlio world around,” 
and you will find that two pounds of fruit, with the 
sugar, will fill a quart can. As soon as the fruit 
begins to boil, empty tho now hot water from one of 
your bottles, set on a plate, (ho as to Have what is 
spilled,) fill it full, wipe the edge of the bottle, and 
have ready a cover to put on immediately, prepared 
as follows:—Tho simplest, cheapest, and surest, way, 
is to lake two tablespoon fills of rosin, (pound the 
large lumps, so you can measure it,) and one of 
gum shellac, with a piece of' bees-wax as large as a 
hickory nut, aud melt together. Take a piece of 
cotton drilling, (or any thick, strong doth,) lay 
it on a moderately hot stove, and spread the 
cement upon it sufficiently large to cover the edge 
of the bottle, put it on 
A subscriber, who has no ground to waste, 
wishes us to name the six best annuals. 1 his is a 
rather small number, and there will be no difficulty 
in naming those that are first-rate in all respects, 
though of course we shall have to omit many that 
are very desirable, and perhaps equal or nearly so 
to those recommended. For the purpose of aiding 
others in making a selection, we will name a few ot 
the good points that an Annual should possess. 
1. Abundance of Flowers.— We have a great 
many flowers that are curious and really beautiful, 
but the blooms are so few in comparison with the 
size of the plant, the amount of the foliage and the 
room required, that they are desirable only as 
objects of curiosity, or for the pnrpose of making 
up a collection. Some of this class, especially if the 
foliage, is bright and good, may be desirable for 
making bouquets, and may be mixed with advan¬ 
tage with those flowers which have little or no 
foliage when cut. Such flowers, however, make but 
a poor show in the garden, unless the foliage is par¬ 
ticularly fine. The flowers, for a good showy bed, 
must have abundance ol bloom, the flower being far 
more conspicuous than the foliage at all times. 
2. Constant I!loom— Some plants make a good 
show for a few weeks, but the flowers soon fade, and 
then they become unsightly. These may do well 
enough in some situations for cut flowers, but should 
never be used for garden decoration. What we 
At the^oginmng, 
further 
tend to begin to deepen the soil 
made, return without letting the plow go into the 
soil, ami lake the next furrow in the same direction 
ns the first. Again return without, using the plow, 
and by the proper adjustment of the clevis, prepare 
the plow for going the second time in the liiBt fur¬ 
row. This time, il the first furrow was deeply made, 
the plow will not do much more than loosen the 
soil, not being able to throw much of it upon the top 
of the former slice. To prepare for the next furrow, 
the loosened soil must be thrown out; and the im¬ 
plements for doing it are long-handled, conic-point¬ 
ed shovels. If five or six industrious men are em¬ 
ployed, they will keep the team as steadily employed 
as will consist, with their endurance, giving a few 
moments for resting at, the beginning of each furrow. 
To gain the required depth, it will be necessary, 
unless the ground is very light, to go tho third time 
in the furrow; and the last time, if oxen are used, 
will be found not a little trying to the team and 
plowman. A yoke of more than the ordinary length, 
and a wide space for the top of their necks, will 
greatly lessen the difficulty. At first, not, more than 
half a day should bo given to this work, and the 
other half to something else; for it will bo found 
severe for both beasts and men 
, cement downward, tie 
firmly, and spread upon top, and your work is done. 
A depression in the top will show you that a vacuum 
is formed and your work perfect. A word of cau¬ 
tion about I he shellac may save perplexity. If not 
good, it will not. mix with tho rosin and form a 
smooth cement, but settle in a hard lump, and the 
more it is heated tho worse it will be. if good, it 
will be found to be clear on being held up to the 
light.; it not, full of black specks. Such is my ex¬ 
perience. 
Large-mouthed crocks can be sealed in this way, 
if the glazing is good. Last year I tilled a two gal¬ 
lon crock, seven inches across the top, and in Jan¬ 
uary the fruit was excellent. 
Save all the covers; they can be used many times 
by placing them in your cement pau iu the oven, 
and adding new where needed. u. s. l. 
Avon, Lorain Co., Ohio, 1802. 
£$m- r 
if they are diligent. 
To work an acre in this way, will require the 
industrious employment of at least live or perhaps 
six half-days. After tho team becomes accustomed 
to the work, no driver will be needed but a very 
strong plowman. The ordinary cost of the labor for 
doing an acre well in this way may be generally 
stated at twenty-five dollars. 
We have supposed the soil that, was put below to 
be in as good condition as desired, and no enrich¬ 
ment employed, if any enrichment should be em¬ 
ployed, it. ought to be in the form of well-decomposed 
compost, for fresh manures should never be placed 
at that, depth. 
The surface now consists probably of a depth of 
ten inches of unfertile subsoil, which will require a 
large amount, of fertilizing material to bring it into 
good productive condition. Where muck, or de¬ 
cayed vegetable matter, or leaf-mold are at, band, 
the engraving. Skin thin and yellow, and dotted 
and marked with red on the sunny side, and covered 
with a thin bloom. Flesh dull yellow, rather firm, 
juicy, sweet and luscious, and adheres to the stone. 
It ripens usually about the first, of September, but is 
later bore this season. Our report of the fruit 
market shows that plums are selling at a good price 
in New York. 
In our last we gave descriptions of several good 
plums, and now we present our readers with an en¬ 
graving and description of one Of the best, plums 
grown—the Ate. Lang him. In quality, it is acknowl¬ 
edged by all to he nearly equal to the Green Gage, 
and mauy prefer it to this old favorite. Tho tree is 
hardy, vigorous, and productive; fruit large and 
nearly round, usually a little flattened, as shown iu 
Pnlox Drummondii. Very showy and brilliant, of i 
a good variety of colors, of every shade of purple, * 
scarlet, white, &jc., doweling abundantly, and the < 
blossoms well up above the foliage, so that the < 
whole bed looks like a sea of (lowers. Commences | 
to bloom in July, and continues until frost. With- i 
out fragrance. 
Ten Week Mocks—A lino variety of colors, and 
the flowers borne in spikes, very fragrant, and free 
bloomers. Commence floweriugqoiieeariy in July, 
but hardly makes a good show until frost, unless the 
season is cool aud moist. They hold out the long¬ 
est if planted in a cool shady place. We have now 
a lino bed that commenced flowering in July, and 
they will continue good for several weeks. 
GaUlardia.— This flower is not much cultivated, 
but is one of the best annuals, as it gives ft fine dis¬ 
play during the whole season, aud the colors are 
rare, being red, orange and yellow, and very bril¬ 
liant. 
Double Zinnia.—A constant and showy bloomer, 
and the double flowers are superb; but those that 
are single are poor enough, and unfortunately oue- 
hali come single. To make a good bed, set out, 
the plants pretty thick, aud as soon as the flowers 
appear, pull up all that are not double. Iu this way 
a magnificent bed may be obtained, particularly 
suitable for the lawn. 
The Petunia makes a fine bed, as showy as can bo 
dosired, ami durable, but is of no account for cut¬ 
ting. It has long been a favorite. 
The risfer.f are unsurpassed for fall flowers, but 
do not bloom till quite late in tho season—about the 
middle or last ol August. The improved varieties 
are magnificent in size, and all that can be desired 
in form and coloring. 
The above are perhaps the six best annuals, where 
only this number are planted, but there many other 
sorts almost If not quite equal to some of these. 
The Gomphrena is an everlasting flower, that comes 
up to nearly all the requirements of a first-class 
flower, and can scarcely be omitted, even from a 
very small collection of annuals. Uuhra and aurea 
are the most showy, though the white and flesh- 
colored may be mixed with them, but should not lie 
in a greater degree than one to lour, as it gives tho 
bed a tame look. For a temporary or summer 
hedge, there is nothing, perhaps, superior to the 
Sweet Pea. The flowers are abundant and fra¬ 
grant, and the plant, is very neat if supported with 
well arranged sticks. The only difficulty Is that it 
becomes exhausted early in September, and then 
must be removed. The Marvel of Peru makes a 
superb summer hedge. Let the plants stand about 
four or five inches apart, in rows, the colors mixed, 
and you will havo a beautiful fragrant, hedge until 
frost. On sunny days the flowers open in the after¬ 
noon, and close the next day when the suit gets well 
up, but at all times tho hedge is neat, and no Chi¬ 
nese Azalea is more beautiful than a well-grown 
plant of some of the line Four-O' Clocks. 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— Allow me, through . 
the columns of your excellent journal, to give its 
readers a good way to make an apple quartet er: 
Take a piece of board 18 inches long, T inches 
wide, U inch thick, and make a hole 4} or 5 inches 
in diameter, 4 Inches from one cud, for the knife to 
be put in. The knife is made of the edge of a worn 
out scythe. Break off (or cut oft' with an old axe) 
two pieces, 1 inch longer than the diameter of the 
hole; one of them to be { of. an inch wide, aud the 
other 1-1 wide. Cut tho wide one one-half in two 
from the edge in the center, put the other knife in 
the place you have cut, so that the edges will be on 
one side, and tit it in the hole in the boaid. Now 
make a lever to pu-h the apple through. It should 
be 4 iuches longer than the board the knives are in, 
M inches wide at one end, IJ at tho other, and 1 inch 
thick. Fasten the widest end to the board with a 
common door-binge, fastening at the end furthest 
from the knife. Put a hall-inch pin through this 
lever, three-eighths of an inch at the point where 
the knives cross, and saw cross places for the knife 
to fit, in when the lever is down, and it is finished. 
Take a pail or pan, put the quarterer across it, and 
E. B. Tanner. 
at the price which it costs near our large towns, the 
expense will lie at least double, if not four-fold, that, 
of the labor, and not more than half the cost of tho 
labor lias yet been incurred. To do it immediately, 
so as to make good soil for gardening purposes, 
would require thirty cords of manure and two or 
three times that amount of sods from another field. 
The way to proceed in making the application 
would be to apply at once half the quantity of 
manure named, and then plow deeply, so that a 
little of the fertile soil would be brought up into the 
subsoil that is now the surface-soil, blit beginning 
at the. outer side ot the field and making the furrows 
in the opposite direction. A swivel-plow may be 
used for this pari of it, and much waste travel 
saved; but for the trench-plowing no swivel-plow 
with which l urn acquainted is well adapted. After 
this operation has been performed, the first furrow- 
slice will be found iu place. Tho next plowing 
may cross the former furrows. Harrowing or work¬ 
ing with a large cultivator will bo very effective iu 
ng the new sur- 
respectablc nurseryman. Prefer stroug 1 dwarf plants to tlmne 
that, havo rim up like Lombardy poplars in search of light. 
You may use seed if you will, hut the process is tedious, 
though remunerative. The soil should bo light, aud an ud 
mixture of virgin earth and dung, so well rotted as to b« 
crumbly, will give it freshness and good heart. Iu September, 
when the plants are brought in, cut them down low, leaving 
only three or four short stems to each plant, and always cut 
back to a good eye. Ite pot the plants in good soil, and in 
pots a* it nail as the size of the plants will allow ; if the pots 
are the least, loo large for any of the herbaceous plants, they 
are apt to ran away in leaf aud produce hut few (lowers. 
Give them a good watering to settle the roots, and let them 
grow dourly, but. healthily, during the winter. In watering, 
never use cntit water us it entnes from u cistern, hut add a little 
fruit. Of course this plan would not give opportu¬ 
nity to use the boo among strawberries, and per¬ 
haps that is odo of the greatest advantages of this 
system of cultivation, as taking out the weeds by 
baud is undoubtedly much less injurious to the 
plants than cutting about the roots with any imple¬ 
ment. A. 
South Livonia, N. Y., 18(52. 
CURL IN THE PEACH LEAF 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— 1 have seen in your 
paper, since I have been a reader of its columns, 
two or three articles on the cause ot the curl and 
destruction of the peach tree leaf; also attempts, 
by writers in the Massachusetts agricultural papers, 
to assign the cause. Some have attributed it to a 
worm at the root, others contend that, it is stung by 
inHecI, but nope have fully answered my mind 
mixing thoroughly and disintegrating the new sur¬ 
face-soil. After the manure has been applied, and 
the plowing and working with harrow or cultivator 
has also been done, thirty or fifty cords of sods from 
the roadside or another field may lie added, and 
after these have partially fallen to pieces or been 
broken, another plowing may be performed, another 
harrowing, and then the balance of the manure put 
upon the surface to remain all winter, if the work 
ha 1 * been done in the fall. Tho cost of the whole 
operation will now be found to amount to from two 
hundred to three hundred dollars.— Landmarks. 
some 
as to the cause of the evil or how it is produced. 
Tn the year 1848, 1 set out fivo peach trees; one 
was within six or eight feet of my kitchen door. 
After two years I discovered they were afflicted 
with the curl blast. In the spring following I made 
up my mind, if possible, to discover the cause. 
Sitting one day in tho door, the sun shining bright, 
the blossoms on the trees beginning to make their 
appearance, around which the leaves hiul attained 
their usual size, 1 noticed an unusual number of 
strange-looking Hies, apparently in great delight 
over and around the tree, performing all manner of 
fantastical gyrations, which convinced me at once 
that mischief was Intended, and l spent a short time 
in attending to their case. 
Oti approaching the tree I discovered a number of 
tboso flies quietly perched upon the upper side of 
the leaves, on which they had deposited a liquid- 
resembling varnish, both in looks and taste, which 
lay oil the leaf, from the bigness of a three-cent, to a 
ten-cent piece. In two or three days it- began to 
raise like a blister, leaving a cavity on the under 
side of the leaf, directly under the deposit. When 
I first examined these cavities, there was nothing to 
be discovered, but after two days some little mites 
made their appearance, tho size of a small head 
louse. The next lime 1 looked at them they were 
an eighth of an inch in length, having wings, which 
they wore not slow to use. The leaves soon began 
Kiuiit in Nkw YORK Market,—A s tho prices which many 
of nur readers obtain for their fruit, are regulated by the New 
York market, we give, from the Spectator, the prices of fruit 
and vegetables iu that city on the 12tli inst.: 
POTATOES, 
Mercers, choice, '1ft bbl.Si 88@212 
Mercers, common...............— 1 3S(:nl 82 
Peaehblowif.... I H7(a‘2 00 
Buckeye, l-niiv 'Hand .. 1 .TSQj'.I Ml 
Buckeyes. Ji.rvy. l 25@1 38 
IiyckmanH... . I «J@1 50 
Junes ............_...__-_............. 1 (HXaU 25 
Siveet, potatoes, choice. ...200 
Sweet potatoes, common.301X51350 
Onions- Connecticut Red and Yellow, $1 bid, $i,2fi@i,50, 
hunch, Id 100, 
TomatoKS Long Island, ft I bush, I3@20c. 
Am jib—W e quote.-— Summer Pippins, ft! bbl, $1,50; common 
75c(<i}? 1, Golden Sweets, Si.40, 
Pkahh very abundant, and prices irregular. We quote:— 
fleck left, ft I bbl. W.MK-t l, Bartlett*, ttft&UU ; common, $l(a:d,60. 
PKAdliKB—We quote, ft) basket, 50C®$1. 
rents- We quote, ft! bbl., I’VoT, $0; Green and Blue Gages, 
$3,50« *1 Damson and Horse, $2,50Cfl,i3; Bullet, $l,25b>;l,fi0. 
go to work. 
Attica, Ohio, 186i 
LEMON PIE—WASHING RIBBONS 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker:— Noticing Jessie’s 
request in your columns, for a recipe for making 
lemon pie, I send the following, which I think is 
very good. Crust made and placed, on tins the 
same as for apple pie; slice very thin the half of a 
common-sized lemon, with the peel shaved oil; scat¬ 
ter this peel, chopped fine, upon the bottom crust, 
among your slices. Stir together enough sweet 
milk with a heaping tablespoonful of flour to make 
a thin batter, then add two-thirds of a teacupful of 
sugar and a teacupful oi sweet milk. Stir all well 
together and pour slowly over your slices in the 
tin; cover with a crust, the sumo as tho bottom, and 
bako rather slowly. 1 like (hit) way of making 
us tho articles of which it is composed 
STRAWBERRY CULTURE 
Landmarks. —-This is tho singular name of a now monthly 
periodical, by Dr C. W. Grant, of Iona, near Peeksklll, N Y. 
The first (August) number ia, now before us, and it is in 
quarto form, each number to contain sixteen pHgea. its 
typography i* in all respects excellent. Our old friend the 
Doctor seems to he sole publisher, editor and correspondent, 
aud doc#tho heavy work with a will, utterly oblivious of the 
fact that we are in the midst of the dog-days, in another 
column we give the plan recommended for thorough pulveri¬ 
zation of tho soil. The price'of the work is a year, and 
half this price to clubs of twenty. 
lemon pie, 
are within the means of tho most limited house¬ 
keeper, without resorting to all the niceties that 
make up the dishes for the rich. 
Will some of the many readers of the Rural 
inform me, through its columns, the best method of 
washing ribbons, either white or colored, to make 
them look like new?— Mrs. H. E. Evans, Irving , 
iV. l r ., 18G2. 
Klin ITS IlKCBirwn.— From Dr. Jambs Fountain, of Jeffer¬ 
son Valley, Westchester Go., N. Y., specimens of Summer 
Pippin apple. It is a very good apple, largo, somewhat coni¬ 
cal, but, ripening at the same time as peaches and plums, 
would not prove valuable in this section. 
— prom Mrs. Wii. W a ns worth, of GenesCO, tine speci¬ 
mens of foreign grapes. 
_From F. W. Lay, Esq., of Greece, the largest and finest 
specimens of Bartlett pears we have seen the present season. 
TOMATO FIGS —TOMATO PIE 
Eds. Rural New-Yorker: —Having received 
considerable valuable information through the col¬ 
umns of your paper, and having seen an inquiry for 
making Tomato Figs, 1 send the following: 
Take plum or pear-shaped tomatoes, scal'd and 
peel them. To sixteen pounds of fruit put six 
pounds of sugar; boil uulil soft, then take them out, 
put Iu a dish, aud flatten them. Dry them in the 
sun; then pack in a jar or box and sift white sugar 
over every layer. Cover the jar or box with paper, 
and they will keep lor a year. 
Green Tomato Pie.—I also send a recipe for 
green tomato pies, which we think very good. 
Stew a quart of green tomatoes sliced in two cups 
of sugar. When done, put three teaspoonfuls of 
incomes anti gtoiwvMSf 
WORKING THE GROUND 
Hollyhocks.— Will some one please to mtormmo, tnrougn 
the columns of the Rural, how soon after flowering the 
root#of hollvhock- should be taken up, aud In what manner 
i, Ux.kport, y. F , 1802. 
or October, aud each 
By this I mean in all cases something more than 
can be accomplished by ordinary plowing, for get¬ 
ting an increase of the depth of fertile soil. Trench- 
plowing consists in going twice or more in the same 
furrow, but plows of the usual form can not raise 
tho soil very much after the second furrow has been 
taken, but by the use of great power some of the 
subsoil is sufficiently raised to become mixed with a 
portion of the fertile soil. This can be done so that 
iri times of drouth the roots of plants will find nour¬ 
ishment in tho moderately fertile soil that is thus 
made; but it ih only better than the subsoil, and not 
nearly equal in fertility to the surface-soil that is 
completely moved, disintegrated, and aerated by 
tillage. To deepen the soil effectively, Iho surface- 
soil must be put below and the subsoil upon the 
surface, so that it can be thoroughly weathered as 
well as intermingled with ameliorating materials. 
To accomplish this, cultivators sometimes use tho 
spade alone; and often, when an acre or more is to 
be worked, and not more than two feet in depth, tho 
plow is used as an important assistant of the spade. 
By this means, the work may be very well done, 
and at much leas cost than if the spade alone were 
used. 
divided?—A Lovkr or Flowers, 
Take up the old plants In September 
old root may l.e divided Ho n.a to malm many plants. Give to 
each division one or more eye* or youug shoots, each of which 
will make a good plant for next -mason. 
Flowers for Name -Will you be kind enough to tend 
me tho names of the inclosed plant# in your to tuw Invaluable 
paper it 1» to me Invaluable Oil account of its Horticultural 
department, if It contained nothing else. No 1 is a biennial 
vine, a very rapid grower the second year, Often growing 
gotlmtltuvttl gtoteis 
Management or Greenhouse.— .The majority of green¬ 
house plants love Abundance of light, a mild, moist air, and a 
soil composed of about equal proportions of fine sand, leaf- 
mold, peat-, or turfy earth, and very old stable dung. The 
soil should not bo sifted, l>ut tho ingredients must'be well 
chopped and mixed together. Geraniums dislike manure, 
and flo best in clean turfy loam, made light by an admixture 
of sand. 
I should advise an amateur not to attempt the growth of too 
many sorts of plants, but to have a good stock of calceolarias, 
petunias, geraniums, pelargoniums, fuchsias, fairy roses, hy¬ 
drangeas, verbenas, alonsons and heliotropes, and, unless ho 
has plenty of time and means, to abstain from the growth of 
cactuses, aloes, nepenthes, and heaths and epaeriscs, as they 
involve much trouble, and require a purer air than that ot 
towns. Give roses, pelargoniums, fuchsias and hydrangeas 
the richest soil, and scarlet geraniums tho poorest; keep calce¬ 
olarias always moist, and use bog earth In the compost, 
1 in the flrsi instance, purchase some good stock plants of a 
Tomato Preserves.— Take the round yellow 
variety as soon as ripe, scald and peel; then to 
seven pounds of tomatoes add seven pounds of 
white sugar, and let them stand over night; take 
tho tomatoes out of tho sugar, and boil the sirup, 
removing the scum; put in the tomatoes, and boil 
gently fifteen or twenty minutes; remove the fruit 
again, and boil until the sirup thickens. On cool¬ 
ing, put the fruit into jars, pour the sirup over it, 
add a few slices of lemon to each jar, aud you will 
have something to please the taste of the most fas¬ 
tidious. 
—- V -- v-y VW’H 
